Radio host Howard Stern has joined the chorus of critics in favor of President Trump firing White House press secretary Sean Spicer in the wake of the spokesman’s recent remarks concerning chemical weapons and Adolf Hitler.
Mr. Stern spent several minutes taking shots at Mr. Trump’s press secretary during Wednesday’s episode of the shock jock’s widely heard SiriusXM radio show, specifically calling into question Mr. Spicer’s ability to represent the White House in light of incorrectly stating this week that Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons during World War II.
“When I heard this I was like, Trump’s got to fire this guy, I think,” said Mr. Stern, a longtime friend of the president since well before the latter’s latest foray into politics.
“If I was Trump, I would have fired the guy that day,” Mr. Stern added. “I would have said, ’Listen, I gotta get a guy in there who understands history.’ “
The radio host has hardly been the only prominent voice to advocate for Mr. Spicer’s termination in the aftermath of comments said during a Tuesday press briefing involving Hitler, the Holocaust and a recent chemical weapons strike allegedly launched by Syrian President Bashar Assad against his own civilians.
“You had someone who was despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons,” Mr. Spicer erroneously said Tuesday.
“Spicer managed to make Assad look good,” Mr. Stern said during the next day’s broadcast. “He actually got him to look not so bad for using chemical weapons on his own people because the discussion became, Sean Spicer, how could you not know that Hitler marched his own people — Jews, gypsies, homosexuals …”
“I mean, of course Hitler used chemical weapons. He gassed many of his own people to death. That’s what the Holocaust was.”
Mr. Spicer has repeatedly apologized for Tuesday’s comments and said his initial remarks were “inexcusable and reprehensible.”
His comments have continued to spur calls for his firing from the likes of individuals ranging from Mr. Stern and Barbra Streisand to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, New York Democrat, among others.
“The guy’s just not informed, and it’s kind of embarrassing — it’s just embarrassing. But it’s entertaining as hell,” Mr. Stern said Wednesday.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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